The Rural Voice, 1988-03, Page 10SHOP & PORTABLE
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8 THE RURAL VOICE
SPRING MAY PUT
FREEZE ON FINANCING
Warning!
This is not a column for the faint
of heart. It is a column for those
farmers who are willing to face up to
the reality that they're in a financial
bind and who want to bite the bullet.
Although each spring since 1980
has signalled to an increasing number
of farmers that they are in serious
trouble, this spring of 1988 already
promises to be a humdinger.
According to two sources, the
banks are letting farmers know earlier
than ever that they won't be financed
for spring planting. Some farmers in
south and central Ontario were told as
early as mid-January.
Another signal to farmers should
be what I found to be an unprecedent-
ed occurence at an agricultural outlook
conference held for bankers last fall.
Two speakers told those attending the
conference that between one in three
and one in two farmers could leave the
land before the world farm depression
works itself out by the early 1990s.
What was unusual, and thus a signal,
was that neither of these speakers was
challenged by the banking community,
which has consistently down -played
the farm depression of the 1980s.
The farm depression began in
1980 in the hard-hit livestock country
of Bruce and Grey counties and has
since spread to the tobacco belt and
cash -crop swath across the south of
the province — and the depression is
here to stay for a while. Experts and
even bankers are now saying that it
will be 1991 before anything sig-
nificant changes on the poor -price
floor.
For those of you who may just be
arriving at the conclusion that you
could possibly be in trouble, here's
some advice on how you can assess
your situation to see if you are on the
"trouble" side of the ledger.
According to an experienced
financial advisor, this is a simple two-
part questionnaire you should put to
yourself:
1. Last December 1, did you toy
with the idea of — or worse, go
through with — trying to defer your
Farm Credit Corporation mortgage
payment until March?
2. If your banker hasn't told you
outright that he won't be lending you
money to plant your crop this year,
has be been even "hesitant" to commit
himself?
If the answer is yes to either of
these questions, or in particular to
both, you're in trouble and should
seek help.
The Queen's Bush Rural Ministry,
a rural telephone hotline manned
much of the time by Brian Ireland of
Teeswater, a farmer who has been
through the mill himself, is the latest
source of help for farmers who find
themselves in dire straits in Ontario.
A more direct route for farmers is
to search out a farm financial con-
sultant and/or lawyer with a proven
track record in handling farm cases.
There's a farm grapevine out there.
Don't be shy to ask someone who's
been in a bind. My experience as a
reporter has been that these veterans
of farm wars are more than willing to
help.
Since the farm crisis began, a
number of outspoken farm leaders
have come and gone — most recently
Jack Wilkinson of the Ontario
Federation of Agriculture. What has
not come and gone, of course, is the
farm crisis, and you may just find
yourself in the front line of battle.
There may be some outspoken
farm leaders to take up the torch, but
don't count on it. You may have to
lead your own charge for survival.0
Gord Walnman has been an urban -
based agriculture reporter for 12 years.